Callian’s pupils trembled.

He looked at Esika in disbelief.

Despite the series of events, he thought the reason Esika didn’t present divorce papers was because she still felt some love for him.

Even if he denied it himself, that lingering attachment would never disappear.

Who was Esika Klaus?

Once… wasn’t she the woman who chased after him so annoyingly?

Wasn’t she the woman who didn’t express any intention of divorce even when his mother abused her so much and his friend became pregnant with Callian’s child?

But now, not even a trace of warmth could be felt in Esika’s eyes.

A hard and cold gaze, as if looking at a stranger.

“…wife.”

Callian shook his head.

“I know you’re very angry. Of course you would be.”

“…”

“The house suddenly turned upside down, and the maids and servants left. I understand what you must be thinking.”

Then Callian reached out and put his hand on Esika’s shoulder.

And looking into her eyes, he said in a low voice.

“But, it’s all temporary.”

“…”

“Klaus will eventually rise again. The roots of our family are deep, and we can never fall to such winds and rain. Even if the branches sway a little…”

“How strange.”

Esika said coldly as she raised her hand to remove Callian’s hand from her shoulder.

Callian flinched at the ruthless gesture.

“Why is it that the duke of the deeply-rooted Klaus family… has no one to turn to for help but the mere provincial merchant family of Brigitte?”

At Esika’s words, Callian’s face hardened.

Soon, his face turned red and blue.

But whether it was because Esika had hit the nail on the head, or because Brigitte was truly his last resort, Callian didn’t get angry.

He just said in a growling voice.

“You know why.”

“…”

“You announced it in the newspaper. That my mother’s origins were humble… So all the noble families that used to associate with mother in social circles turned their backs.”

He couldn’t hide his tone of accusation in the end.

“Don’t you think it’s too much… to smear Klaus out of personal grudge against mother, and then ask why no one is helping?”

At Callian’s words, the corners of Esika’s mouth turned up.

“You should speak properly, Your Grace. It was your mother who smeared Klaus by defrauding the empire. And you were the beneficiary of your mother’s fraudulent actions.”

“Wife!”

The veins on Callian’s neck bulged.

The woman who once seemed so beautiful that it blinded his eyes now looked like a little devil today.

Every word she uttered was firmly embedded with blades and thorns.

But it was also the truth.

If Riona hadn’t lied about her identity as the princess of Smichen, the Empress, sister of the former Duke Klaus, would never have approved her brother’s remarriage.

Riona would never have been able to establish herself as the Duchess.

If that had been the case, Callian wouldn’t have inherited his father’s title either.

Callian licked his dry lips and argued.

“…I am your husband. And, mother is your family. You shouldn’t talk like that.”

“Mother said so. You’re not fit to be a duchess, so don’t expect to be treated like one.”

Esika recalled what happened shortly after she came to the Klaus mansion.

It was around the time when the long-term abuse began.

“…That was…”

“Just education? Yes, I learned a great lesson from those words. After all, the purpose of education is to learn lessons.”

“…Esika…!”

“One must be husband-like to be a husband, and family-like to be family. So, Callian…”

Esika’s lips were smiling, but her eyes were not.

“You have never been my husband, nor my family.”

A heavy weight seemed to drop onto Callian’s chest.

Since when had Esika been looking at him like this?

Perhaps she had been contemplating divorce long before he realized it.

Maybe she knew about Klaus’s downfall and was enjoying it…

No, that can’t be. It can’t all be over… If I persuade her well, there’s a possibility…

“…So let’s divorce.”

Esika’s next words drove a wedge into the weight on his chest.

Her ruthless expression seemed to assert that all the thoughts Callian was having were just delusions.

Esika didn’t seem to have any intention of compromising with Callian at all.

With an attitude that showed not the slightest respect for her husband, she folded her arms.

“…Esika…”

Callian shook his head.

He couldn’t end it like this, like this.

“And behind you, there’s a divorce petition drafted with legal advice. There are dozens of reasons if we count them all, but I’ve listed the ones that are easiest to prove.”

“…”

“The child in Yuri’s belly. Evidence of your infidelity.”

Indeed, infidelity was one of the reasons that could be grounds for a divorce lawsuit.

Usually, noble wives don’t divorce even if their husbands commit adultery. But any woman, if her husband has already gone bankrupt, wouldn’t need to put up with that sight any longer.

“And there’s also evidence of the violence you inflicted on me last time. I got a medical certificate from the doctor.”

“…No, Esika.”

Callian didn’t seem to have any intention of accepting the divorce.

She was all he had left.

“I admit I’ve done you great wrong in the past. But now, now I need you.”

If it had been the Esika of the past, she would have thrown herself into his arms with tears in her eyes at Callian’s words that he needed her.

Callian missed that Esika of those times.

That foolish Esika whom he had never loved even once.

“I need a divorce agreement. And one more thing, a sales contract.”

“…”

“Even if you sell the mansion, you won’t be able to pay off the debts, and you’ll have to take full responsibility for the embezzlement of military supply funds, right? But there’s one way to overcome this difficulty.”

Esika continued as if it was really a good solution.

“Transfer both the mansion and the debt to me at the same time.”

Callian’s eyes wavered. He couldn’t understand Esika’s intentions.

Esika turned her head to look at the mansion and said.

“You’ll lose the mansion and the estate, but the debt will disappear too. At least you’ll be debt-free, right? Even if your title is demoted due to embezzlement responsibility at most…”

Her voice was flat, and the sadness and despair were entirely Callian’s burden.

“You’ll be able to make a living somehow somewhere.”

A faint smile appeared at the corners of Esika’s lips.

Callian was furious at Esika for proposing such a deal to him.

It was the moment when denial of reality and despair turned into resentment.

“How can you… say such things? How can you say it so easily!”

Callian, with his eyebrows set, lashed out at Esika.

“Divorce you and hand over everything of Klaus to you? To me, the Duke of Klaus? You’re going to take away my mansion, my estate, and all my possessions?”

“…”

“Did you marry into the family aiming for Klaus’s wealth from the start? To devour my mansion? Like the daughter of a greedy merchant family, yes, you were only thinking about money from the beginning?”

He seemed to have already lost his reason.

“You have no intention of helping Brigitte, do you? Yes, I knew it.”

Forgetting even the fact that the reason for taking Esika as his wife was Klaus’s financial problems, he glared at her with murderous intent in his eyes.

“It was all an act. Yes… I was fooled by you. Even the harassment you suffered by provoking my mother was all a lie… and our family ending up like this…”

“Get a grip, Callian Klaus.”

Esika’s chilling voice was heard while he was spewing out his anger incoherently.

Her gaze was different from before.

Callian felt his breath catch suddenly at Esika’s changed gaze.

Esika’s lips moved.

“Look carefully. It’s all over. Because of your mother’s investments and your neglect.”

Her clear, harsh words pierced Callian’s ears vividly.

“So there’s no way to go back to the past.”

The woman before him seemed like a cruel devil.

She makes it impossible not to accept the reality he doesn’t want to believe.

The whites of Callian’s eyes were reddened.

His tightly clenched fists are trembling.

Esika’s words continued to be heard.

“The only way not to become a debtor chased for the rest of your life is to divorce me and transfer the mansion and debt to me entirely.”

Esika Klaus, she was speaking as Esika Brigitte, the daughter of the merchant family he once despised.

Saying she would buy his property at a quite good price.

She draws a line with divorce papers on such modifiers as husband, family.

She doesn’t seem to be sad at all about Klaus’s downfall. Callian was angry about that, but he could no longer argue.

“I’ll give you three days. I hope you make a good decision.”

Esika turned around after finishing her words.

He wanted to grab her, but his lips wouldn’t move.

Only a cold chill lingered in the place where Esika had left.

Now… Callian didn’t even have Esika.

Nothing remained. Neither possessions nor people, everyone had left him.

“Aaaargh!!”

Callian looked up at the sky and roared with despair.